renov8z

Home Improvement, Fix-It Tips and more!

06 Mar 2013

Foundation Repair

While we do not do major foundation repair, sometimes we do minor repairs and leveling to homes that have shifted with the North Texas soil. This house had some floor issues where the beams under the house had shifted and were pushing outward.

The floor was pushing the sliding door and entire wall outward…
We dug far enough down to get under the house…

We used jacks and very long threaded 3/4 inch bolts to attach to solid bracing under the house, and used the power of the bolts tightening against the solid bracing to pull the side of the house back together.   Quite a heavy chore, but it worked!!

Here is the finished product after we filled the dirt back in.  It held itself in place and was a very cost-effective repair…
Happy Digging!!
Posted in contractor, diy, foundation, handyman, home improvement, maintenance and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
02 Mar 2013
2 Comments

Backsplash

Here is a backsplash I installed Friday

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Started on a sheetrock wall, I sealed the edges with silicone

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Starting the customers design

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Pulled the plugs out to the front edge of the tile

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Grouted it with white pre-mixed grout.  About a 5 hour process

from start to finish.

(Now we hope they paint the cabinets!)

Happy Backsplashing!

Posted in Backsplash, contractor, diy, handyman, home improvement, home repairs, kitchen and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
27 Feb 2013

When you Don’t have a Truck

Yes, pretty sad, I know…  but this is how we roll…

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Posted in commercial, diy, handyman, home improvement, maintenance and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
26 Feb 2013

Commercial Bathroom Stall Doors

Here’s a project we worked on a few weeks ago.

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We set up at night to build new stall doors in the bathrooms,

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semi-rustic (whatever that means) but this is what the design

came out looking like…

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I decided that using outdoor privacy fence gate hardware would fit

best with the design.

We painted them later with the restaurant colors, it seemed to fit well

with restaurant style.

Happy Privacy!

Posted in commercial, contractor, handyman, home improvement, restaurant, restroom and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
25 Feb 2013

When Mice Attack!

A rental property left vacant for just a few weeks….

This is pictures I took under the dishwasher.

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All the plastic pipes under the dishwasher had been chewed on.

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But it even got worse!!

The back of the pump housing was plastic as well, and it had been chewed through in multiple places…the dishwasher was a total loss.

 

The moral to the story is: rodents and pests can do costly damage even when no one is around and it looks as though everything is cleaned up.  It’s good to have good repellent set about when a house is going to be vacant for a while.  Just the fact that rodents like to come in out of the cold, and must eat to survive, should warn us to keep repellent out to avoid this type of costly disaster.

 

Happy Hunting!

Posted in contractor, dishwasher, diy, handyman, home improvement, home maintenance and tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment
24 Feb 2013

Closet Ideas

Here’s some ideas from a closet we built.

(Click on a picture to enlarge it)

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We used 3/4 inch MDF board only.  We cut it down for bracing, trim, shelves…pretty much everything except the hanging rods was made out of MDF board

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 The biggest challenge was extremely small closet space.  We had to get creative to make everything fit. (Plus there was a designer working on this job, that’s where the “creative” came in!)

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 Instead of over-cramming stuff, I built a box in the corner and left it empty, dead space.  We only lost that 12″ x 12″ very hard to reach corner.

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 We took over the garage for a couple days and used it as a shop…

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Here is a finished view before the painters came in…

The shelves on the left are for normal shoes and high-heels.  In the top picture, you can see the shelves on the right that were spaced differently for taller shoes and boots.

The open spaces in the middle are for various length hanging clothes.

The man’s side was similar, but all shelves were custom placed so you could use them from everything from tennis shoes to boots to work boots.

We like to visit Ikea and other large home improvement and furniture stores to get ideas on different styles. It’s so much better to see it in person and see what works BEFORE you pay someone to build it!

We have even had a client that had cut-out cardboard so they could visualize the size of the shelves better!  A great idea!

Happy Closet Building!

Posted in closet, contractor, diy, handyman, home improvement, shelves and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
21 Feb 2013
2 Comments

Life Sized Angry Birds Slingshot

Here’s an idea inspired by the crazy-popular Angry Birds…  I thought we came up with something pretty clever, but come to find out…lots of people have done it!

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I simply used 4 inch PVC sewer pipe a couple of caps, a couple of elbows and a “T” then spray-painted it brown.

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The biggest issue to me was keeping it stable from a lot of use and keeping it from twisting and turning when a lot of pressure was applied.  I decided that using 2 “T” fence posts was the easiest and most cost effective solution.  I used bungee chords to tie it to the slingshot.  The best launching device in our case (water balloons) was a 3 person water balloon launcher.  It turned out to be perfect for 5-10 year olds (and adults) to use!

(Here’s a link to a review on the slingshot)

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Here is a better view of the slingshot.  I attached it with 2 large hose clamps on each side for safety.

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And here are some pigs about to get clobbered….

The slingshot is now traveling from party to party…

Angry Birds Here

Happy Pig Hunting!

Posted in Angry Birds, diy, handyman, party and tagged , , , ,
21 Feb 2013

Simple Shed Door

Here is an idea for a simple shed door, we built this a couple weeks ago to replace an old rotted door.

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We only used one sheet of plywood siding and 8-1×4′s

I install these with the same 1×4 layout on the back as well as the front.  Then I use coated 1-5/8 inch screws through the front and back.  This gives it more stability but it is still not really heavy.

One of the neat things about this design is that you can use a 1/2″ sheet of plywood siding and it still holds itself rigid.

We caulk the seams and screw holes and paint it.  Everything together comes to less than 90 dollars, including the latch, hinges and paint.

Happy Door Building!

Posted in contractor, diy, doors, handyman, home improvement, home repairs and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
20 Feb 2013

My Favorite Drill

One of the benefits from being in the remodeling/handyman business for many years is being able to sample a wide variety of tools!

  I have tried many many cordless drills and this is my favorite so far.  It’s great for daily moderate to heavy use.

drill

Click here for a link to Lowe’s version of this product.

(It is also available in other hardware stores)

The lightweight feel and triple-no-shadow LED lights make this a product that you will never tire of using!  It is also an impact-style of drill and can drive 3 inch drywall screws into a 2×4 with ease.

   It can get quite loud, but the benefits far outweigh the advantages.

chuck

I use this adapter, works quite well,

(it is also available in other stores)

I use this chuck for quick-connecting conventional drill bits when needed…

  The only drawback I have ever found is that if you use it more than 30 minutes straight, it can get quite hot in your hand where the skin between your thumb and forefinger meet.  I have come home many times with my skin red from use and now have some pretty good callouses!

  Overall I would highly recommend this product…

Happy Drilling!

Posted in contractor, diy, Handy Man, handyman, home improvement and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
20 Feb 2013

Roof Leak!

We run across this all the time…a leaky roof that was repaired with roof tar or another cheap sealer…

In the hot summer, most of the black tar you buy in buckets and cans and even some of the white and silver products, simply will not hold up to the heat.  It begins to break down after only 1-2 years.

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This patch was done just 2 years ago and is already cracking.  Water had begun to leak back into the house.

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Click Here to view the product…

This is one of the great products that seems to actually work, I had a report this morning from a friend that said that after applying this product and letting it dry a couple days, they could put their bare skin against it without getting burned in direct sunlight in 100+ degree weather!

It is a great product for sealing roof leaks as well.

The only thing you may want to be aware of is that won’t match your roof, so take care to use it where it won’t be seen by people passing by..

Happy Sealing!!

 

Posted in contractor, diy, handyman, home improvement, repairs, Roofing | Leave a Comment

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